Compaq Portable
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A Compaq Portable with the keyboard detached ready for use
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| Manufacturer | Compaq Computer Corporation |
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| Product family | Compaq Portable series |
| Type | Portable computer |
| Release date | March 1983 |
| Introductory price | US$3,590 |
| Operating system | MS-DOS |
| CPU | Intel 8088, 4.77MHz |
| Memory | 128 kilobytes (expandable to 640 KiB) |
| Storage | Two 5.25" floppy disk drives or, optionally, one floppy drive and a 10 MB hard drive |
| Display | Built-in 9" green screen monitor |
| Graphics | Unique CGA-compatible video card |
| Weight | 28 lb (13 kg) |
| Backward compatibility |
IBM PC compatible |
| Successor | Compaq Portable Plus |
The Compaq Portable is an early portable computer which was one of the first 100% IBM PC compatible systems. It was Compaq Computer Corporation's first product, to be followed by others in the Compaq portable series and later Compaq Deskpro series.
The Compaq Portable was announced in November 1982 and first shipped in March 1983, priced at US $2,995 (equivalent to $7,200 in 2016) with a single half-height 5¼" 360 kB diskette drive or $3,590 for dual diskette drives. The 28 lb (13 kg) Compaq Portable folded up into a luggable case the size of a portable sewing machine.
The computer was an early all-in-one, becoming available two years after the CP/M-based Osborne 1 and Kaypro II, in the same year as the MS-DOS-based (but not entirely IBM PC compatible) Dynalogic Hyperion, and a year before the Commodore SX-64. Its design was influenced by that of the Xerox NoteTaker, a prototype computer developed at Xerox PARC in 1976.
IBM responded to the Compaq Portable with the IBM Portable.
Compaq sold 53,000 units in the first year with a total of $111 million in revenue, an American Business record. In the second year revenue hit $329 million setting an industry record. Third year revenue was at $503.9 million, another US business record.
The Compaq Portable has basically the same hardware as an IBM PC, transplanted into a luggable case (specifically designed to fit as carry-on luggage on an airplane), with Compaq's BIOS instead of IBM's. All Portables shipped with 128k of RAM and 1-2 double-sided disk drives.
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